The True Meaning of a Hero
by Dark-Hunters Don't Run
Summary: Before Falcon took on the Bloody Monday terrorists, he fought a different terrorist. But to stop Kira, he must team up with the world's greatest detective, L, and his team of investigators. Please review.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Interview

* * *

Takagi Fujimaru tried not to fall as he trudged down the last few steps. He was dead tired from the previous night, the only indicators of his sleepless night being his bloodshot eyes and messier-than-usual brown hair. As he walked past the entryway, he paused, counting the pairs of shoes. There were only two pairs of shoes lined up next the small cupboard. Other than that, there were no signs that anyone had entered or exited that night. Fujimaru scowled and walked into the kitchen.

A slender girl with shoulder-length black hair was cooking something at the stove. As she placed the food on the plates, she turned and saw Fujimaru enter the kitchen. "Ohayo Onii-chan!" Takagi Haruka smiled brightly at her older brother. Fujimaru ruffled her hair in response and sat down at the dining table, yawning loudly.

Haruka frowned at him as she brought the breakfast to the table. "Onii-chan, what were you doing so late last night?"

Fujimaru shrugged. "Nothing. Working on homework."

Haruka gave him a disbelieving look. "Usotsuki. I already know you finished your homework. I overheard you and Otoya talking about it."

Fujimaru sighed. He needed to be more careful. "I was downloading some scary computer games, that's all. I'll let you play them later."

Haruka seemed to question his excuse, and for a moment Fujimaru thought she would call him out. But all she said was, "We should eat, or the food will get cold."

"Ittadakimasu," muttered Fujimaru, picking up his chopsticks. After a few mouthfuls of the delicious omelet, he commented, "This is great, Haruka."

Haruka beamed, forgetting her earlier suspicions. "Really? I found it in a magazine. I was planning on making it for Otou-san, but…"

Fujimaru didn't reply, but he frowned slightly. Not for the first time, he cursed his father for not coming home. He didn't want to think about how many times his father would promise to come home early, only to call and cancel. It seemed that Takagi Ryunosuke liked his job more than his children. Fujimaru wasn't naïve, and knew exactly what kind of stuff his father got into, but that didn't mean he couldn't just come home early for one night and spend time with Haruka.

"Oh. Falcon is back." Haruka's announcement made Fujimaru look up. She was reading a message from one of her friends on her phone.

"What?"

"Falcon. You know that legendary hacker. Apparently he revealed that a group of students were posting blackmail pictures of teachers, accusing them of crimes they didn't commit. He has all sorts of evidence." Haruka went back to reading her messages.

"Oh. That's cool." Fujimaru stretched and checked his watch. It read 7:27. "Shit!" he exclaimed, running upstairs. "I'm gonna be late!"

Haruka smiled to herself as she heard her brother's curses from upstairs. She was already dressed in her middle school uniform, a navy blue seifuku, having woken up an hour earlier She watched, amused, as he raced down the stairs and struggled to get his shoes on.

Fujimaru was wearing his uniform which mainly consisted on a white short-sleeved button down shirt and black pants. Before leaving, Fujimaru paused and looked at Haruka. "Be safe, and keep careful. Don't exert yourself. I'll try to come home straight after school."

Haruka nodded and smiled to show she was fine. "I'm okay, Onii-chan! Iterashai!"

Fujimaru smiled and shouted, "Itekimasu!" as he left. He ran fast down the streets, turning the corners with ease. Fujimaru went to an 'advanced' school that was farther away from his house than Haruka's middle school, so most mornings he was sprinting to make it on time.

As he crossed the bridge that crossed Arakawa River, he was hit on the back of the head by something. Cursing, he turned around to face his attacker.

Asada Aoi grinned at him, swinging her schoolbag. "Yo Fujimaru."

"Aoi! What do you think you're doing?" Fujimaru glared at the tall girl.

"Going to school," replied Aoi, as if it was obvious. "Come on!" She reached to grab his arm but Fujimaru moved out of her reach.

"I can get to school just fine. It's not like I'm planning to skip." Fujimaru started to walk away.

Aoi rolled her eyes. "You're walking so slow! Come on, Otoya said to meet him at the clubroom before school."

Fujimaru sighed. "Otoya? What does he want this time?"

Aoi sighed. "If you were paying attention, we're doing an interview! Now come on!"

Fujimaru followed the long-haired girl though the streets, wondering what was the real reason Otoya wanted to see him.

* * *

"Yagami-kun!" Yagami Raito closed the book and looked to see who had called his name. Makozawa Yuri, the class president, was pointing towards him, a group of underclassmen walking his direction. He noted the camera bag one boy was holding and the recorder in the hand of another girl. Raito smiled, drawing the conclusion that they were the Newspaper Club. They looked rather small, two girls and three boys, but most of them looked calm and professional.

A boy with curly dark brown hair and a serious expression stepped forward. "Ano… Yagami-senpai? We're from the Newspaper Club, and we were supposed to do an interview with you today."

Raito nodded. "Hai. I believe you had some questions for me."

The boy nodded. "My name is Kujo Otoya and I am the manager of the Newspaper Club. This is Asada Aoi, reporter, Tachikawa Hide, photographer, Anzai Mako, artist, and Takagi Fujimaru, handyman." As Otoya introduced the members, they bowed respectfully towards their senpai. Except Fujimaru who was too busy listening to music and not paying attention. This earned him a punch in the arm from Aoi. He glared and stuck his tongue out at her.

While the two argued, Raito tried to remember where he'd heard of Takagi Fujimaru before. He was pretty sure Otoya hadn't mentioned him before. He had met Otoya several times before due to the fact that Otoya's grandfather was the Minister of Defense, who had met with Raito's father about some "secret" business. Otoya had never mentioned Fujimaru though. Finally, it hit him.

"Ano, Takagi-kun. You wouldn't happen to know Takagi Haruka would you?" he asked, interrupting the fight between Fujimaru and Aoi.

Fujimaru glared at him. "Yeah. What do you want with my little sister?" His tone was low and threatening, and he seemed ready to punch Raito if needed.

Raito smiled and held his hands up in a peaceful way. "Nothing. Your sister just comes over to my house quite often and talks with my sister, Sayu."

Fujimaru narrowed his eyes, thinking. Finally, he growled, "Brown haired girl with bad math skills?"

Raito laughed slightly. "That's her. Your sister talks about you a lot."

Fujimaru relaxed slightly and opened his mouth to reply, but Aoi cut him off. "Anyways, I think we should get on with the questions. We shouldn't bother Yagami-senpai any longer than we need to." Fujimaru didn't argue with her and started listening to his music again.

Aoi and Otoya took turns asking Raito various questions. Most were about his views on politics and police action as well as his future plans. While he talked, Hide would snap pictures of him and Mako held the recorder, catching every word he said.

As they wrapped up their questions, Mako asked suddenly, "Ano… Yagami-senpai. What is your opinion on Falcon?"

The room grew quiet as the other students turned to look at Raito. His opinion on Falcon was a complete mystery to everyone. He never took part in any discussions about the hacker and seemed to avoid the concept altogether.

Raito kept his calm. "Falcon? I would say he's a criminal."

Mako looked slightly shocked. "Eh?! But Falcon-sama is a hero! He takes down lots of bad guys!"

Raito wanted to yell. How the hell were these people so stupid? What was this world turning into? First, there was the fact that criminals were being released, and now hackers were being called heroes? Ridiculous! Raito sighed inwardly and said, "Falcon may seem like a good person, but his ways of exposing people is wrong. Besides, how does anyone know that the evidence is real?"

Fujimaru snorted. "Of course it's real. If it wasn't, then the criminals would get let off. Falcon probably sends it off to the police before posting it on the web."

Raito raised an eyebrow. "It's all a matter of opinion. I believe this concludes the interview. We only have about ten minutes before lunch is over."

Otoya nodded, glaring at Fujimaru. "Arigato, Yagami-senpai. We will feature your interview in the next issue. Please look forward to it." The club bowed again, Otoya making Fujimaru bow this time and left the room.

* * *

Raito stared out the window as the English teacher droned on. He already knew what the teacher was lecturing, and didn't want to pay attention to someone who obviously didn't know what they were doing. His mind wandered, thinking about Falcon again. There was no doubt in his mind. Falcon was still a criminal, no matter what. He'd looked into the police records and found that several of the criminals Falcon had 'captured' had been released. Not publicly of course, but due to the sheer amount of criminals in prison already.

A sudden movement outside caught his attention. He leaned forwards, looking down into the schoolyard. A black notebook of some kind was lying in the yard, where it hadn't been before. Raito frowned. Had someone dropped it? No, that wasn't possible. Even if someone climbed to the third story of the school building, they wouldn't be able to throw the notebook so it landed like that. Raito decided that if it was still there when school let out, he would check it out.


	2. Chapter 2: It's Not Your Fault

**AN: I hopefuly won't be making many of these, but I felt I had to apologize. I haven't updated this story because stuff happened, and I was very horrible in making you guys wait for it. I sincerely apologize and hope you enjoy this next chapter. Thank you to Jorus C'baoth and Mychele O'Carrik of Clonmel for reviewing. I did fix that gramatical error, so thank you. Please continue to read and review. **

**Disclaimer: I swear on the River Styx that I don't own anything in this story. **

Chapter 2: It's Not Your Fault

Fujimaru would be lying if he said he wasn't a little surprised. He had expected them to pull off a stunt like this, but he hadn't expected it so soon. It was obvious that it wasn't Third-i that had done the job, which meant it was probably that team L had put together. They were definitely getting their butts in gear with Kira's recent actions.

He smirked towards the camera and slowly flipped it off. That ought to get the police riled up. He then pulled the tiny camera off the wall and smashed it with his foot. This had been the last of a few dozen cameras and microphones hidden throughout the house. While they had been hidden rather well, they were no match for his security program. Honestly, if they knew who he was, they would not have tried bugging his room, or his computer. He was definitely mad about that. At least it wasn't his laptop, which he had taken with him to the internet cafe.

It was only half an hour before Haruka's dialysis session ended, but knowing her, it would take at least an hour to get home due to the time spent shopping. But now that he had probably pissed off Third-i and L's team, he had to get out of there. While the detective himself may not have cared that he flipped them off, the team would definitely be angry. People did have honor issues and from his experience, police were some of those people. While he was planning to contact L about some issues with Kira, he needed to try something out first. So, before police came to arrest him, he needed to hide.

Fujimaru searched through his closet, coming up with an old sports bag. He began haphazardly throwing in clothes and other things he would need, notebooks, flash drives, and several computer games. Well, he may not need the games, but you never know. He made sure that his prized laptop was safe inside his computer bag, along with two flash drives.

Finally, he called the first number on his contact list, stepping outside of his house for what could be the last time in a while. He was definitely going to be on the run for awhile, at least until they caught him. The call went straight to voicemail.

"This is Otoya Kujo. If I am not available, please leave a message and I will return your call immediately."

Fujimaru left a message, running towards the park. He cursed himself for not remembering. Kujo would be in archery practice, and he never had his phone with him during that time. Honestly, he couldn't have waited to destroy the cameras until after Kujo was done? Aoi was right, he didn't think before he did something.

Aoi. Fujimaru stopped, thinking. Could he sneak over to her house? He might be able to give her the flash drive and she could get it to Kujo. He shook his head. Stupid idea. It was way too risky, and she might find out about his secret. She would definitely wear his ear out for not telling her. Besides, the less people who knew his secret, the better. It was bad enough Third-I knew about it. Kujo, he could trust with his life, but there were always spies in the police system.

Fujimaru felt a headache coming. He was running out of time and options. He hasn't planned for this, and now he had screwed his original plan. He was so pissed at himself he almost missed the faint buzzing of his phone.

He quickly answered it. "Kujo?"

"Fujimaru, what's going on?"

"I need your help. Are you at the park yet?"

"Almost there. Why?"

"Hurry up. This is serious."

"Oi Fujimaru! What's going on?" Kujo sounded worried.

"I'll tell you when you get there." In the distance, rapidly approaching, Fujimaru could hear sirens. "I gotta go."

"Fujimaru-!"

Fujimaru closed his phone and took the shortcut to the park, avoiding any main streets or sirens. They may not have been for him but why take the chance?

* * *

By the time Kujo arrived, Fujimaru was very paranoid. He jumped when Kujo tapped his shoulder, but relaxed when he saw it was his best friend.

"Fujimaru, what's going on? First you call me in the middle of practice, and now you're acting like this. You haven't been this way since..."

He trailed off, not wanting to bring up any memories. Fujimaru finished for him. "Since a year ago, right? Why did you have your phone anyways?"

"Because of last year. You still haven't answered my question."

Fujimaru sighed. "You've kept up to date with all the Kira activity, right?"

Kujo rolled his eyes. "It's hard to ignore. Kira-sama this, Kira-sama that. Makes me wish Falcon would do something."

"Believe me, he would. Unfortunately, Kira has ruined everything."

Now Kujo was more intrigued. Fujimaru never let anything get in his way, not even his father. If Kujo didn't know better, Fujimaru hacked more after the incident, just to get his father's attention. But what could stop Falcon from hacking if not his own father? "Fujimaru, what has Kira done?"

Fujimaru reached into his computer bag and pulled out a folder, which he handed to his friend. Kujo shot him a questioning glance and began to look through the papers while Fujimaru drew invisible patterns with his shoe.

When he was finished, Kujo looked at Fujimaru, eyes wide. "Fujimaru... This-"

"It's a chart of the people Kira murdered, the dates they were murdered, how they were killed, any crimes committed, and who sent them to jail. He's killed almost all of the people Falcon exposed. Kujo, jail is not enough for this bastard. He wants them all dead." Fujimaru's voice was sharp, and there was a barely concealed anger.

Kujo suppressed the urge to hit something. This bastard was playing "God" and going on mass-murder sprees. As much as Fujimaru wanted to do something, he couldn't, not without Kira killing the person, which would make Falcon and Kira look like partners.

"Look here." Fujimaru pointed out a specific date. "I found this man had been molesting and raping teen girls at a high school in Britain. I exposed him, and as soon as his crimes hit the news on the web, he was killed. Heart attack."

As soon as he figured out what Fujimaru was thinking, Kujo slapped him on the head. "Aho! Stop being such an idiot!"

Fujimaru frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

Kujo sighed in exasperation. "I know you well enough to see what goes on in your head, unfortunately. You think that this is your fault. That people are dying because of your exposures and that maybe, Kira was inspired by you and decided to up the bar."

Fujimaru looked away and said nothing. Kujjo sighed again. "Fujimaru-"

"I know."

Kujo blinked, surprised. "What?"

Fujimaru smirked at Kujo. "I'm not a complete idiot, you know. So you can save the lecture. I'll probably need it later. The reason I called you out here is this."

He held out an ordinary black flash drive which Kujo took. "What's this?" he asked, examining it.

"I need you to plug this into your laptop at home. The program on it will allow me to update you on recent events that are happening, and has a messaging system so you can help me out."

Kujo pocketed the drive and nodded solemnly. "Alright. Anything else?"

Fujimaru had that familiar shit-eating grin on his face. "Make sure the cops don't find out."

"Cops?!"

Fujimaru looked around shiftily. "I may or may not have destroyed the cameras that were being used to spy on me and Haruka inside my house."

Kujo groaned. Why was his best friend so desperate to find some way to get into trouble? "You better not get into too much trouble," he warned.

Fujimaru's grin widened. "I only flipped them off once or twice." He stood and stretched before grabbing his bag. "I should head off. I'm going to try and make it to Harajuku, maybe hide out in an internet café.There's one more thing I want to try before meeting with L. You should get home, and remember. Lie your ass off if anyone asks."

Kujo smirked. "Tell Falcon to kick Kira's ass."

Fujimaru waved and began walking off. Kujo started off in the other direction. It felt strange walking away like that. It was almost as if he knew he wasn't going to see Fujimaru for months. As he exited the park, he heard the screech of wheels and turned.

Two black cars were racing on the other side of the park, chasing a boy as he sprinted, trying to get away. Kujo shook his head and laughed.


End file.
